Top Ten Ways Japanese Live Small

5) Capsule Hotels, or Morgues for the Living

Tiny Capsule Hotel Room

Capsule Hotels are the poster kids for Japanese Tinyness Syndrome. The name says it all: a hotel with cubbyhole-like "rooms" you can rent for the night... if you can stand being filed away in a slot like an unclaimed accident victim. Stick me in one of these drawers and I won't be surprised to awaken next morning wearing a toe-tag! One might imagine the accommodations on a future mission to Mars being much like those in an average capsule hotel. Adjustable lighting, AV systems, alarm clock... all the comforts of home, except of course room to stretch. And yet, capsule hotels are fairly popular. It can't be denied they save space; just stack those salarymen like cordwood! (image & info via Japan's Capsule Hotels )

4) Many Tiny Minicars Save Mucho Money

Tiny Suzuki Car

The compact Japanese cars sold by Toyota, Honda et al in the USA don't look so compact on the congested streets of Tokyo. In fact, they're far above the low end in their home market. "Kei" cars - no relation to Lee Iacocca's boxy Chryslers of the early 80s - are a distinct Japanese phenomenon. Their existence is a response to legislation that bestows tax breaks on cars less than 11 feet long and with engine displacements of 660cc (40 cubic inches) or lower. Read more about these mighty mites in my article, "Suzuki Cervo & Chevy MW Minicars Prove Size DOES Matter! "

3) Tiny Pets Save Space... When There IS None

Tiny Ant Farm

The aptly named "Antquarium" is pretty much what you might think: an aquarium for ants. Yes, Japanese love their tiny Yorkies, Chihuahuas and other minuscule mutts, but entry-level Japanese "apatos" are too small for even midget pooches. Ants are the answer, and not one of your full-blown ant farms numbering thousands - the average Antquarium holds just six. Six ants. If that don't make ya feel small, I don't know what does! Although made in Italy, the 3,150 yen Antquarium has caught on big in Japan, selling over 70,000 units since being introduced in 2003. Talk about low maintenance, the sextet of six-legged beasties tunnel into the translucent aquamarine gel and eat the stuff as well. You don't even have to pick up their teeny tiny poop! (via Japan Times )

2) Staying Small by Eating Tiny Portions

Tiny Food Portions

Ever notice there are very few obese people in Japan? It's not that they've all been kidnapped off the streets and forced to become Sumo wrestlers - at least, we hope not - but in general Japan is a slim, trim country. Why is that... could it be a government conspiracy intended to safeguard the nation's infrastructure from a flood of fatties? Maybe... but a more likely explanation lurks on the shelves of your typical Japanese supermarket. Right off the bat you'll notice that the food is expensive. Any tourist who's been hit with a hotel room service bill for a $4 cup of coffee and an $8 melon slice (raising hand guiltily) can attest to that. But no, it goes beyond that... the portion sizes are minuscule. Super size it? Not bloody likely... people in Japan are thin because they can't afford to be fat - and it takes too much #$@%& time to open each tiny package! (via 37signals.com )

1) If You've Gotta Live Small, Have BIG Fears

Big Bad Godzilla

Living in an overcrowded country surrounded by miniaturized everything takes alot of adjusting to if you're not going to blow a gasket or two along the way. Yet the Japanese seem to be coping rather well with the pressures. My theory is, one can learn to love Small if one learns to fear Big. Exhibit A: all of those lovably cheesy Japanese monster movies of the Fifties and Sixties. You know, the ones with those classic scenes of Godzila and The Monster Of The Week duking it out in downtown Tokyo, knocking buildings aside with the swipe of a paw, tail, tentacle or what have you. These images, endlessly repeated and burned into the minds of generations of Japanese, have engrained these words to live by: "Big Bad, Small Good!" (image via Rodan's Roost )

And there you have it, ten examples of how Japan scores big by staying small. Call it The Bonsai Effect, if you like. It's worked so well that the government is now worried about the declining birthrate. Go figure... on your tiny Japanese calculator!

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I see waste in these products! Wouldn't individual serving packages use more materials than multi-serving packages? The tiny tube of toothpaste could have been placed inside the toothbrush to save on packaging; no ant needs an indoor home; no doll house needs a functional mini-TV, etc. The multi-functional chomode could have included a pull-out daybed (no more pissing the bed!), and the mini hotel room isn't even big enough for a dream--especially a wet one!

You think the houses in Japan are small in the floorplan... they are pretty low, too. Their height is all too often much less than a European one. I'm constantly having to duck to go through doorways, or suffer the consequences of head-butting a cross-beam. And it's not just houses - most doorways in other buildings are only 180 cm high.

Of course, the average height of the Japanese person is less than that of a European, so it's understandable.

As for why there is so much forested mountainside still around, it's primarily because the terrain is far too steep and rugged to even think of building on. Short of levelling the entire mountain (a mammoth engineering feat that would make the Chunnel look like a mole's front passage) there is no way to build in those areas. So, what they do is make the most of the land they have, and take some back from the sea. Land reclamation is quite commonplace in Japan, and has been going on for centuries.

Those are only a sampling, they also buy fruits and food individually - as in individually wrapped apples, individually wrapped crackers (crackers come in a box but each cracker is wrapped independent of each other). Fruits are smaller, a Subway sub is smaller and sold in the regular foot longs, but also smaller sizes like quarter of a foot, etc in Osaka at least.

When I went to Japan, I saw a fixation with packaging, all kinds everywhere. Beautiful packaging. Products at times were double and triple packaged. In this sense, the Japanese are very wasteful. Give them time and they'd probably package M&M's separately in little wrappers if M&M's were sold there. Every culture has super-human strengths and insane weaknesses. In travelling, we can learn much about how to better ourselves, by doing what others do, or by NOT doing what others do. I think that little dollhouse TV was just as wasteful as someone here buying a 42" TV screen. But I liked the toilet concept. We could learn a lot from the Japanese on how to make spaces that are pretty and yet simple. Japanese room sizes may be too small for us, but they have a simple crisp appearance that is inspiring. Their use of wood and stone is genius.

having lived here for nearly a year now i can certainly attest to the tiny tiny places. i used to live in a "1 room" apartment. essentially it was the entrance with a 2 meter hallway (about 1.3 meters wide) leading into a room of at best 8m^2. in the hallway happened to be a sink, an electric element and a college sized fridge with ice frozen at least 6 inches thick.

the bathroom was also small with about a 1/3rd size tub, with the sink overlapping both the tub and the toilet (which was on an angle because it was installed in the corner) god i hated that place.

now i've moved into a bigger place but the bathroom looks exactly like the toilet the guy shows here. my toilet self cleans, has the faucet up top (which i never use) and comes complete with bidet.

as for small things, many things fold, are made of cloth and work essentially like all those space saving ikea things you have all seen, bought, and loved.

I think that a lot of foods are wrapped individually because of a poisoning scare a few years back with "pocky" confectionery. They had to make the packaging more tamper proof and other companies followed suit. But it can get a little wasteful.

I think I have a smaller version of just about everything in my home inTokyo, but nothing to the extent that it is unusable.

Funnily enough, Godzilla's image has changed radically over the years. He started out as an allegory for the atom bomb, and the original movie really emphasized the destruction and horror he left in his wake. One of the protagonists actually witnesses a doctor at a hospital running a geiger counter over a little girl, and realizing that the girl has no chance. But then in the 60s and 70s Toho was targeting kids' audiences, so Godzilla became a protector of Japan and an unambiguous hero (and he had a son, Minilla). And due to budget cuts he wound up having lots of fights on islands. They've since tried to take him back to his roots somewhat (starting with the 1984 incarnation), but the series has never really gone back to emphasizing the casualties caused by a rampaging giant monster.

While he took a couple of breaks here and there, Godzilla's 28 movies span the 50 years from 1954 to 2004. And the last one, Godzilla: Final Wars is an immensely fun cheesefest from director Ryuhei Kitamura.

Well, all products in Japan are in a beautiful presentational. Many foods are separated packing in a tiny bag. I’m HongKonger. I can understand why this is so common in Japan coz we also live in a very crowd and small place too. I also understand in western countries, many things come in larger size. But for us, we would think that’s amazing big for us. For example, our ladies would buy western children clothes and shoes coz the adult’s XS size one is not fit for them.

U may think the tiny packing for the food is so waste. I agree partially. But what is the point for a large pack of food for us??? Our living place is so small (comparing for urs). I think about 90% Hong Kong people living in apartment. Normally, a floor in a building lives 10 families. With a 50 floors building, there would be about 2000 people. (Considering a family with 4 members). And these buildings are all over the places. So we see a tiny sky too. For many’s apartment, (u may think this is crazy too) they could enjoy their labor’s TV show with a 21” screen through the window. (We call this apartment is “window to window”) they can almost shake hands with their labor though the windows. This is absolutely a disadvantage. But there are advantages; our transport is so convince that every 10-20 steps is a bus stop. “There is always a 7-11 nearby.” (<- this is the original 7-11 commercial slogan) Supermarkets are so closed that we only walk 5mins from our home. So we go to supermarket everyday (or twice everyday). So why do u need a big pack of food, when u can reach them so easy. We have no space for storing so many of food. We buy things when things went out. We don’t store!

And other reason for small packing foods is that many small packing foods are snacks. Considering eating snacks as a bad habit, we were taught to try to eat these foods less and in many times.

For the reason why tiny packing products are so popular in Japan; Japanese considering dainty product is an art. As the tiny TV set, I don’t think there is a Japanese would buy it for replacing their original “big” TV. It is treated as a beautiful master piece. Many Japan products are sold behind this concept as to attract their customers.

No substance, humour, interest nor entertainment. Only insulting thru the use of oriental (New Jersey). WTF - it's the 21st century - get your head out of your ass and maybe you'll write more interesting and less insulting articles.

I would think that this article was meant to be informative and "amusing", but not intentionally insulting. An article such as this is only "insulting" if one interprets it this way--and that is more of a reflection upon the interpreter and his/her attitudes/beliefs than of the writer's intent.

There are many items in the U.S. that are available in ridiculously small packages. For example, we have individually wrapped Life Savers, Tic Tacs, pieces of bubble gum, etc. We also have single doses of aspirin, individually-wrapped 1" square (?) alcohol pads, and 4 or 6 ounce cans of soda, single-serving drink mixes "to go" (e.g., Propel or Crystal Light) to name a few. If someone from another country wrote about these, I wouldn't be offended. Being objective, I would have to agree that these are wasteful and unnecessary. At the same time, I would acknowledge that it is a growing trend--which some have dubbed "The McDonaldization of Society".

Even if people find another society's practices unusual, odd, or "silly", it doesn't mean these people are making fun of the culture--they just find these things amusing and interesting to read and write about. America is supposed to embrace cultural diversity, and I think an article like this is useful in informing people around the world of various practices. Some wll laugh, some will be offended, some will be amused, and others will wonder "what's the big deal?"

I learned a little about Japanese culture, and therefore believe that the article has value. If I had to pick something that was on the offensive side, it would clearly come from some of the comments made about the author--they were INTENTIONALLY insulting when his article was NOT.

I had to look twice yesterday to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing: A Japanese man walking along a road near a U.S. college campus and chugging down a QUART carton of "Soy Milk". Skeptics might assert that he just LOOKED Japanese or that I am exaggerating the size of the carton, but I am still wondering where he was going to put all that milk.

Get your head out of YOUR ass, and quit being so sensitive. I'm Japanese too and I'm not offended by "oriental" or anything else except maybe "jap." And even that seems laughably archaic. What's the difference, precisely, between oriental and asian? "oriental" seems quaint now, if anything.

Thicken your skin, bud. Seriously, don't you have anything better to do than be offended?